Bulgarian cigarette maker King's Tobacco has accused an offshore company registered on the Virgin Islands of trying to lay its hands on their key brand – The King.
The Plovdiv-based company suspects that Moroy Assets Limited aims to deliberately damage their brand, which is protected not only in Bulgaria but in more than 100 countries worldwide, its representatives told Dnevnik daily.
King's Tobacco has brought a lawsuit at Sofia City Court, which has ruled on August 8 in their...

A contract signed Thursday has become a "decisive" first step for the construction of the natural gas grid interconnection between Bulgaria and Greece, the Bulgarian Energy Holding announced.
The contract for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the connecting of the natural gas grids of Bulgaria and Greece was signed between "ICGB AD", a joint Bulgarian-Greek government venture, and a consortium of Penspen Ltd. and C&M Engineering S.A.
The...

Dominant fuel seller Lukoil Bulgaria decreased on Thursday petrol and diesel prices by some 2%, turning a blind eye to the much sharper drop in crude oil costs on global markets.
The A-95H, the most widely used and lowest octane gasoline in the country, will see a decrease of 2.72% and its price will be BGN 2 274, 00 per 1,000L.
The A-98H gasoline will be sold at BGN 2 334, 00 per 1,000L. Diesel fuel will cost BGN 2 239,20 per 1,000L.
This is the second time that Lukoil reduces fuel...

Bulgaria's state authorities are seeking bidders for the concession of the inactive airport in the northwestern city of Vidin, Plamen Stefanov, Vidin District Governor, told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).
In an interview for Novinite.com dedicated to the situation of Bulgaria's Northwestern (Severozapaden) Region, which is the EU's poorest region in terms of per capita GDP, Stefanov announced that his administration and the central government are now prepared to grant the Vidin Airport on...

Russia's Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has offered Bulgaria a new extension of the contract for the construction of the Belene nuclear power plant, amidst continuing haggling over the project's price.
Atomstroyexport has sent Bulgaria's National Electric Company NEK a draft of a new annex to the November 29, 2006, contract between the two state companies that provides for an extension until December 1, 2011.
If Atomstroyexport's proposal is welcomed...

The number of completed new buildings increased in the second quarter of 2011, but the number of dwellings in them decreased, according to preliminary data the National Statistical Institute (NSI).
A total of 742 new residential buildings were put into exploitation in Q2 2011, up by 13.1% from the same period in 2010.
The number of dwellings, however, decreased by 26.2% to 3 497.
The largest number of newly completed residential buildings and dwellings was registered in the Black Sea...

Bulgaria's finance minister has launched a probe into the allegedly inflated prices that local mobile operators charge, the highest across the European Union, promising justice for the clients.
"We are currently analyzing the market of telephone services. Our initial study showed that mobile prices in Bulgaria do mark a decrease, but much more slowly than they have to," Minister Simeon Djankov told the morning broadcast of bTV private channel.
"Prices are falling everywhere. In Bulgaria...

Bulgaria's anti-trust commission is likely to launch a probe into a possible mobile price cartel after both Sofia and Brussels rose up against the rates charged by local mobile operators, the highest in Europe.
The Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) will decide whether to carry out an analysis of the mobile services market after receiving the results of the finance ministry's check, its spokesman said on Wednesday.
It is only on the basis of the finance ministry's findings...

Bulgaria's Privatization Agency has announced a tender for the sale of two state-owned minority stakes in two of the country's military repair plants from the TEREM group.
Thus, the Agency for Privatization and Post-Privatization Control will offer investors 34% of the "Terem-Georgi Benkovski" plant in Plovdiv and 28% of "Terem-Gen. Vladimir Zaimov" located in Bozhurishte near Sofia.
The TEREM military-industrial complex consists of eight repair Plants, and the sale of the state assets in...

Bulgaria's consumption of natural gas grew by 2% in 2010 compared with 2009, according to the newly released financial report of state company Bulgargaz.
The Bulgargaz report, which has been published in the Bulgarian Trade Registry, states that in 2010 the Bulgarian economy and households consumed a total of 2.53 billion cubic meters of natural gas compared with 2.48 billion cubic meters the previous year.
Bulgaria's output of natural gas, while occupying a negligible share of the...

The new version of the national tourism portal of the Bulgarian government www.bulgariatravel.org is said to be ready in a month.
According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, as cited by Dnevnik, the new site will be up and running in September.
The site is developed by a consortium entitled "Bulgaria Travel 2010" including three firms – Media Planning Group, CNsys, and Screen Brothers – which won the tender for it in competition with 13 other entities at the end...

The number of new mortgage loans has gone tangibly up in Bulgaria in the second quarter of 2011 as the real estate market and banking activity are becoming more dynamic, according to a report.
Thus, the number of mortgage loans increased by 18% in Q2 compared with Q1, Credit Center, a Sofia-based consultancy, announced Wednesday.
At the same time, the average amount of the mortgage loans increased by EUR 2 200, its estimate shows, reaching EUR 40 595 vs. EUR 38 366 for the previous month,...

The average market price of residential properties in Sofia is down over 10% in the second quarter of 2011, compared to the same period of last year.
The data comes from a report of Raiffeisen Real Estate which measures the dynamics of the actual sales prices of real estate in the country.
Compared to the first quarter of 2011, the average market price of residential properties in Sofia is up 3.6%
In the second largest city of Plovdiv, the average market price of residential properties...

Bulgarians should not be worried because they will not suffer from the effects of international stock market turmoil, according to Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.
"There is no new global financial crisis coming up. Some countries might have problems with their fiscal stability but Bulgaria doesn't – and won't have any such problems," Djankov promised, as cited Wednesday by the 24 Chasa daily.
He further stressed that "somewhere in the world" there could be higher unemployment and higher...

In the period January - May 2011 the Bulgarian exports to the EU increased by 48.7% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and amounted to BGN 9.6 B.
The data was released by the National Statistics Institute, NSI, Tuesday.
The main trade partners of Bulgaria were Germany, Romania, Italy, Greece and Belgium, that formed 67.2 % of the total exports to the EU Member states.
The most significant growths were observed in the exports to Malta, Portugal, Denmark and...

Bulgaria's production of rice has been steadily on the rise in the past 5 years, according to latest data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods.
While in 2005 Bulgaria produced 20 000 metric tons of rice, in 2010, its output reached 57 000 metric tons, the newly released ministry data shows.
The average rice output per decare of cultivated land in Bulgaria in 2005-2010 ranged from 448 kg to 522 kg.
The rice plots in Bulgaria have been growing by about 15% per year, with some of them...

In the period January - June 2011 the Bulgarian exports to third countries increased by 35.5% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year and exceeded BGN 7.2 B.
The data was released by the National Statistics Institute, NSI, Tuesday.
The main trade partners of Bulgaria were Turkey, Serbia, Russia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, China and USA, forming 51.2% of the total exports to non EU countries.
The exports to South Africa, India and Canada increased...

The average monthly wages and salaries of Bulgarian employees under labor contract in April, May and June 2011 was BGN 711, 698 and 690, respectively.
The preliminary data was released Tuesday by the National Statistical Institute (NSI)
In the second quarter of 2011 in comparison with the first quarter of 2011 the average monthly wages and salaries increased by 4.2% to BGN 699. The highest increase in wages and salaries was reported in the sectors "Financial and insurance activities" -...

The Bulgarian authorities have demolished more than 15 illegal buildings in the country's largest and most popular summer resort Sunny Beach.
The buildings have been located mostly on the sand in the northern beach of the resort.
The action had begun precisely at midnight Monday into Tuesday, which was the deadline given to owners to remove the establishments on their own. Most, however, failed to undertake any move in that direction.
From a total of 45 illegal buildings on the...

In 2010, Bulgaria acted as a mediator in an arms deal between Serbia and Cambodia for 50 T-55 tanks, according to the updated UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA).
The Serbian tanks were first delivered to Bulgaria, from where they were re-directed to Cambodia, Bulgarian Dnevnik daily reported Tuesday.
The document also shows that Bulgaria sold 44 home-made armored personnel carriers (APCs) and 4 BRDM-2 amphibious armored patrol cars to Cambodia over the past year.
Bulgaria...